In her influential 2020 review in Globalization and Health, Mialon synthesizes the commercial determinants of health (CDOH) literature and underscores how commercial actors are connected to public health through the institutional environments in which they operate. Much of this research conceptualizes firms as institutionally embedded but relatively homogeneous actors, emphasizing external practices such as the production and promotion of harmful commodities, lobbying, and corporate social responsibility initiatives. While recent CDOH scholarship has begun to recognize the importance of organizational-level factors, few studies analyze the internal processes through which corporate conduct with public health consequences emerges. We argue that integrating insights from management scholarship can enrich CDOH research by opening the “black box” of the firm and clarifying how such conduct arises from interactions among institutional contexts, organizational arrangements, and individual-level dynamics. Drawing on management research, we conceptualize firms as multilevel systems in which institutional conditions inform conduct through organizational governance, resources, and practices, as well as through individual values, cognitions, sensemaking, and interaction among organizational members and stakeholders. These analytically distinct yet dynamically interconnected levels give rise to patterned forms of corporate conduct that affect public health. By foregrounding these multilevel connections, this paper advances a management-informed framework for CDOH research that moves beyond documenting harmful practices toward explaining how firms contribute to public health outcomes and identifying leverage points for intervention. Not applicable. This manuscript is a conceptual paper and does not involve clinical trials.

Purpose This study aims to examine whether firms adopting Science-Based Targets (SBTs) exhibit lower levels of corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and how this relationship is moderated by country-level regulatory governance. Design/methodology/approach Building on the new stakeholder theory (NST), the study positions SBT adoption as a mechanism that embeds scientific thresholds and multistakeholder engagement into corporate climate commitments. The analysis uses panel data from publicly listed firms in the USA, China, India, Canada, Mexico, Japan and several European nations between 2018 and 2023. Findings The study finds that SBT-adopting firms are associated with significantly lower levels of GHG emissions. Furthermore, this negative association is substantially stronger in countries with robust regulatory frameworks. Practical implications The findings offer important implications for managers by demonstrating that SBTs are an effective mechanism for achieving emissions reductions. For policymakers, the study suggests that strong national regulatory governance enhances the effectiveness of voluntary corporate climate action. Originality/value This research contributes to the literature on corporate climate commitments by demonstrating that SBTs, as science-based and stakeholder-driven governance, can effectively translate voluntary commitments into substantive environmental outcomes. It integrates the NST with an analysis of national regulatory contexts to explain the impact of voluntary climate initiatives.

This Special Issue explores the vital connection between business and public health, highlighting their interdependence in addressing today’s global challenges. First, we demonstrate how firms are both contributors to and recipients of public health outcomes. Second, we examine the complexities business faces in defining its public health responsibilities, particularly when navigating diverse and often ambiguous stakeholders, such as communities. Third, we emphasize the importance of interdisciplinary research in addressing the multifaceted challenges at the intersection of business and public health, calling for a holistic approach that integrates insights from public health, medical research, management, and policy. The contributions affirm that public health is everyone’s business — both a societal concern and a business imperative that demands attention from all sectors. We hope the insights from this Special Issue spark ongoing dialogue and inspire firms to take a more proactive role in shaping a healthier, more sustainable future for all.

One of the most investigated research topics in the corporate sustainability literature is "the" business case. Long lionized for linking the profit motive to corporate environmental initiatives, the business case for sustainability is now vehemently criticized. These critics generally argue for a return to the state and stronger regulatory frameworks. Others counter that because the private sector's capabilities are uniquely suited to realizing effective sustainability innovations and outcomes, we must not abandon but further develop our business case understanding. In this view, firms' voluntary efforts are key for innovative solutions to sustainability problems. This article overviews and unites these seemingly disparate positions. We move the field forward by placing in context criticisms and also opportunities for more meaningful positive impacts from corporate sustainability. Specifically, we argue that an effective business case orientation requires shifting to a broader "all stakeholders win" approach. This entails impact orientation, collaborative approaches, and economic restraint.

Despite the growing interest in societal impact in the business and society literature, there remains a notable gap in research on the impact of health interventions on physical and mental health and social welfare. To address this gap, we shift the unit of analysis to the intervention, akin to the level of analysis used in health research. Drawing on a curated subset of health interventions in the workplace from the public health literature, we argue that management scholars can adopt the methods used by public health scholars to design and assess health interventions. By tapping into the rich insights gained from these studies, management scholars can propose evidence-based interventions and policies that can enhance health outcomes, improve productivity, and cultivate a healthier workplace atmosphere. Collaborating with public health researchers, business and society scholars can help create a new field of research on corporate health policy.

Purpose-The logic models at the center of leading environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting programs, such as the global reporting initiative, impose a dualistic relationship between organizations and social-ecological systems. Coupled with the lack of a real-world alternative, their dualistic approach results in widespread systems thinking-based reducibility errors in business responsibility. To help develop a nondualistic alternative, this study aims to present the idea of neltilistli or "rootedness," as developed by the ancient Nahua indigenous peoples of Central Mexico. From the perspective of the Nahua, rootedness involves a holistic relationship with one's body, community and the creative force called "teotl." Design/methodology/approach-The authors draw on the past to speculatively theorize an imagined future using the method of prospective theorizing to draw on a historical social context that is largely missing from current management scholarship. In doing so, the authors engage in a process of imagining a radically different future reality. Findings-Integrating a rootedness approach into ESG reporting, particularly in terms of stakeholder relations, enriches it both spatially and temporally. This approach allows researchers and practitioners to replace dualistic thinking with a more holistic approach. Originality/value-This paper complements the dualistic assumptions behind ESG reporting programs with a holistic approach based on the rootedness concept of ancient Nahua thought.

Scarcity of skilled workers in the emerging markets is considered a severe challenge facing organizations since it limits the quality and depth of their labour force. We explore an understudied problem associated with skilled worker scarcity, its impact on a firm's adherence to the law. Drawing on the lens of anomie theory, we hypothesize that a skilled workforce positively impacts a firm's law-abiding organizational climate. This is due both to ethical values associated with the education of skilled workers and their positive impact on an organization's ability to adapt to its environment. Furthermore, we explain the impact that managerial ties have on this relationship, hypothesizing how ties with industry firms and ties with government influence a firm's adherence to law-abiding norms. Hypotheses were tested with survey data collected from 150 Mexican companies. Our study contributes by shedding light on an understudied cause of the wide-spread illegality that plagues emerging markets.

Deforestation is a complex environmental problem that has eluded a series of public policies and private-sector interventions. The need to develop effective solutions to this problem is urgent because unabated deforestation exacerbates climate change, biodiversity loss, human rights violations, displacement of Indigenous communities, and breakouts of zoonotic diseases. This paper focuses on corporate-led efforts to stop deforestation and identifies four reasons behind their failure: global trade and supply-chain obscurity, power dynamics in supply chains, neglected consumption in emerging economies, and diluted goal setting. We call upon corporate sustainability scholars, specifically in entrepreneurship, marketing, strategy, and supply-chain management domains, to dedicate efforts to develop novel corporate sustainability initiatives that can address the complex, rampant, and stubborn challenge of deforestation. We propose three broad areas of research to advance scholarship on the role of corporate sustainability in stopping deforestation: zero-deforestation supply chains, zero-deforestation consumption, and nature-positive business models.

The growing need to incorporate stakeholder groups in the company purpose has been discussed in the business and society, strategic management and corporate governance literatures for a long time. Highly influential organizations like the Business Roundtable and the Davos Manifesto of the World Economic Forum have conferred additional prominence to this concept by arguing in favor of including objectives beyond economic performance in the company purpose. In this article, we seek to add greater precision to the concept of a multidimensional corporate purpose by conceptualizing it with the use of iso-performance curves and production possibility frontiers. Our analysis facilitates the understanding of the complementarities and trade-offs that exist in multidimensional purposes and their impact on differentiation, imitation and industry structure. The article focuses on the need of managers to make clear-headed decisions coherent with the firm´s purpose and lays the groundwork for further theory development and empirical testing.

Considering the urgency of addressing grand challenges that affect human health and achieving the ambitious health targets set by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the role of business in improving health has become critical. Yet, our systematic review of the business–health literature reveals that business research focuses primarily on occupational health and safety, health care organizations, and health regulations. To embrace the health externalities generated by business activities, we propose that future research should investigate the conditions under which business (a) articulates and participates in health challenges, (b) engages in multilevel actions toward tackling health challenges, and (c) improves health outcomes and its impact on the health of external stakeholders, including customers and local communities. We also urge business scholars to engage with the public health research community to increase impact.

We posit that international business and the emergence and spread of communicable diseases are intrinsically connected. To support our arguments, we first start with a historical timeline that traces the connections between international business and communicable diseases back to the sixth century. Second, following the epidemiology of communicable diseases, we identify two crucial transitions related to international business: the emergence of epidemics within a host country and the shift from epidemics to global pandemics. Third, we highlight international business contextual factors (host country regulatory quality, urbanization, trade barriers, global migration) and multinationals' activities (foreign direct investment, corporate political activity, global supply chain management, international travel) that could accelerate each transition. Finally, building on public health insights, we suggest research implications for business scholars on how to integrate human health challenges into their studies and practical implications for global managers on how to help prevent the emergence and spread of communicable diseases.

Despite some work dealing with occupational health and marketing unhealthy products, the business and society largely ignores the impacts of business on health. Focusing on employees and consumers, the literature does not take into account the impacts of business on the health of community members in general. Given work in such fields as public health, geography, and history, there is an ample basis upon which to construct a new line of research for business and society scholars-business and health. This essay develops ideas on how such a line of inquiry might proceed.

This study examines the homophily of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices among listed firms in the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores (Mexican Stock Exchange) (MSE). We draw upon concepts from institutional and social network theories to demonstrate how board interlocks among firms in the MSE can influence CSR practice adoption. Using a Mexican social and environmental certification, Empresa Socialmente Responsable (ESR), to represent the adoption of social and environmental practices and board interlocks among listed firms, we test hypotheses using multiple regression -quadratic assignment procedures (MR-QAP), which is relevant to the analysis of networks. Our main contribution is to show that mimetic, normative, and coercive institutional forces influence CSR adoption differently. Our results suggest that imitation via board interlocks is the most influential mechanism for CSR certification homophily among listed firms in Mexico. Normative pressures via industry affiliation are also influential, but only when combined with connections within the board interlock network. Our results provide insights into the wider diffusion of CSR practice.

Using a large panel of elections in 44 countries, we show that national elections affect CSR in contrasting ways. We posit and find that in strong institutional environments CSR engagement responds negatively to uncertainty and decreases during election periods relative to non-election periods. However, in the context of institutional weakness, characterized by incomplete and captured national institutions, we find that CSR engagement increases in electoral periods, consistent with rent-seeking behavior. We discuss the implications of these results for both theory and practice.